Fate
by Samantha
Summary: A mysterious girl comes to Hogwarts...
1. Part One

Madeleine walked into the castle. It bustled with life, as ever, yet was so different. Different people, different everything. It was so unfamiliar to her that she felt a chill run up her spine. She saw groups of friends, walking up and down the halls, laughing and joking as they headed to their next class. Maddie gripped her schedule tightly. She had planned this so perfectly; no one would know. There were no details ignored, no loose ends. Yet she was scared, better yet, petrified. This was her mission, her one chance to save her own life and everyone she loved. Maddie felt tears build up in her bright green eyes and forced them back. Be strong, Maddie. She looked down at her schedule. 

"First class, Potions," she muttered to herself. Great, she thought. She had Snape for her first class, not exactly the best way to assuage her fears. She walked to the dungeon, trembling with nerves. Breathe in and out, she told herself. She slowly strutted into the class about five minutes late. 

"Well, who have we here?" Snape barked. Maddie jumped back when she saw him. He looked so, well, different. 

"Madeleine McNestrelle," she said very quickly. "I'm a new student in Gryffindor from Egypt." She hoped no one had noticed how forced her words were. 

"Your first lesson here, Miss McNestrelle, is that tardiness is not excepted! Ten points from Gryffindor for your behavior." Maddie sighed. He certainly hadn't changed much. Still as pissed off as ever. She ran her fingers through her long light brown hair nervously. "You may have a seat between Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Longbottom," Snape said with a slight evil grin. What was so bad about that? She wondered. 

"McNestrelle," she heard Malfoy snort. "What a stupid name is that?" Maddie narrowed her eyes and turned to look at him. What was his problem? 

"What kind of name is Malfoy? It's not even a real name!" she snapped. Malfoy glowered at her. Great way to make new friends, Maddie. She reached out and fingered the bracelet around her wrist. "Anyway it's a bit immature at seventeen to pick on each other's names, isn't it?" she said. 

"Immature!" he exclaimed loudly, making the whole class turn around. Malfoy blushed profusely and Maddie laid her head down on the table. She had a long way to go. 

*** 

"What do you think about the new girl?" Harry asked them at dinner that night. 

"She's awfully quiet," Hermione said. "I mean, she won't even look you in the eye." 

"Yes she does," Seamus said. "We had a very nice conversation in Transfiguration. She knows all about the pyramids. She used to live in Cairo and went to school there." Hermione frowned. She didn't like to be proved wrong. 

"I think she's really pretty, " Ron said absent-mindedly. 

"You would," Ginny snickered. 

"Shut up." 

"It's weird," Hermione said. She looked down at the bracelet Harry had gotten her for her birthday. He had said it was a good luck charm, but she doubted it. You make your own luck, she thought. There was no luck and fate. Those who believed in things like that became nuts divination teachers. 

"I like the name Madeleine though," Ginny said. 

"Me too," Hermione agreed. "I had a stuffed bear named Madeleine once when I was really little, but my cat ate her." Ron burst out laughing. 

"Crookshanks ate your bear!" He gasped between guffaws. 

"It wasn't Crookshanks!" she protested, but he was almost on the floor laughing. How dare he insult her cat! Her eyes watered with tears, and Harry put his hand to her face. 

"It's ok," he said with a smile. Then he looked over and glared at Ron, making him burst into even more laughter. 

"Here we go again," Ginny mumbled. 

*** 

Maddie laid in her bed late that night, after everyone was asleep. She flipped through her photos again and again, praying that she could make everything all right. She had too; she just did. The fate of the world was in her hands. It wasn't that dramatic, but that was how she felt. Why was she cursed with this task? She thought as a tear rolled down her cheek. She stuffed her pictures under her pillow and walked to the window. Choosing a star from the heavens, she wished that luck would come change the fate of history.* 

A/N: Who is Maddie? I wonder… Please review! I hate not getting feedback. Anything would be greatly appreciated. 


	2. Part Two

Maddie sat in the Gryffindor common room, talking with some of the other seventh years. She was supposed to hide in the shadows, become invisible, but that was against her nature. She had to be in the center of attention. She always had. I guess it comes with being the middle child, she thought to herself with a smile. 

"What's Cairo like?" Lavender Brown asked. 

"Hot," Maddie lied like a pro. She had gotten much better at it in the week she had been here. "And humid. The mosquitoes are absolutely horrid in the summer." 

"Ugh," Parvati Patil said, scrunching up her nose. 

"I went there about four years ago," Ron said. "My brother works there. What do you know about the pyramids?" 

"A lot," Maddie said. She actually did. She would go to one of her parent's friends who lived there when she ran away from home. 

"That's so neat!" Ginny exclaimed. 

"Do you have any sisters, Maddie? You look kind of familiar," Harry asked. 

"I have an older sister and a little brother," she grinned. It was probably the first true thing she had said all week. 

"Well, guys, it's off to bed for me!" Maddie exclaimed. "I'm exhausted, with all the homework Snape's been giving us. Good god, what is his problem?" The kids just shrugged and chuckled. Maddie left and walked up the stairs to her dorm. She laid down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. Sleep quickly crept over her, leaving her in her own dreamworld. 

She dreamed of a memory. She was in Diagon Ally, buying her wand and Hogwarts robes. She was an exhilarated eleven year old who was practically bouncing all over the stores. She remember her mother pulling her over to the side, chastising her a bit for making a scene about not getting her a racing broom like Gwyneth had. Gwyneth was starting her fourth year that year and was quite a pro about, well, everything. She had top grades, Quidditch player, respected by everyone. At that point in Maddie's life, Gwyneth had been her hero. 

Maddie awoke. She turned on her side, continuing the memory in her head. When she arrived at Hogwarts, she felt the disappointment of her teachers. They had been expecting another Gwyneth, and after a month they found out that Maddie was just another kid, not quite the best in anything. It was then that Maddie hated Gwyneth. Hate might be too strong of a word, but she resented her. Maddie was a disappointment. The word rang in her ears. Disappointment. Disappointment. DISAPPOINTMENT! 

That's when she started rebelling. She would talk back to teachers, start fights with her parents at the drop of a hat. She knew she put her parents through hell, but she didn't care. It got really bad when she was in her fourth year and Gwyneth was head girl. She would run away at least once every two weeks. Her grades slipped, and if it had not been for her friend Grayson, she probably would have failed. 

Gray was an angel. He was always there for her and always cared about her. She loved him more than anything. She didn't think he liked her in the same way she did, but as long as she was close to him she was all right. He helped her shape up a bit after she received quite a blow the summer after her fourth year. 

Maddie sat up in her bed. The darkness was blinding, yet she did nothing to turn the light on. Darkness was her constant, the only thing she could count on. She was scared. She had never been scared before, even when she ran away from home, when she was in the hospital. But now she was petrified. I had to save them, she thought to herself. She absolutely had to. She pulled on her charm bracelet and then when to sleep again, hoping for less painful dreams. 

*** 

"Emergency meeting for all seventh year prefects!" Hermione yelled loudly at the opening of the great room that morning during breakfast. "immediately!" 

"Come on Hermione," Harry pleaded. "We have Quidditch practice now. Or else Slytherin is going to beat us and win the cup!" 

"Is that all you care about? It's Quidditch, Quidditch, Quidditch!" Hermione said, angered. She narrowed her eyes and glowered. 

"There just isn't enough time in the day," Harry sighed, exasperated. 

Hermione smiled and looked at him. "Maybe we should take your head boy badge and give it to Malfoy. How about that?" she joked. 

Harry grinned. "Well, if that happens, then we give yours to Pansy Parkinson. Deal?" 

"Deal." Hermione agreed. Harry shook her hand, and then they left for the meeting. It was probably to discuss the upcoming graduation plans, Maddie thought. She stood up and then walked to her first class. 

*** 

"Now we will partner up for our next lesson," Snape barked at that afternoon's class. "Potter with Parkinson, Granger with Patil, Weasley with Brown, Longbottom with Goyle, Finnigan with Crabbe, and…" he looked at Maddie with a evil twinkle in his eye, "McNestrelle with Malfoy." 

Hermione cringed. "Poor girl. She's only been here a week," she whispered. 

"Poor girl indeed," Harry agreed. 

Maddie turned around to face Malfoy. His face mirrored her own disappointment and anxiety about working together. 

"Let's go," he sighed. They quietly set up their cauldron and started chopping up ingredients. He looked at her. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked. "You look almost familiar." Maddie shook her head abruptly. He looked down at her cutting. "You need to make those smaller," he sneered. 

"I hate potions," she muttered under her breath. 

"I hate transfigurations," Malfoy admitted. "McGonagall is so biased. She only likes Granger." 

"Well, Snape only likes you," she pointed out. Malfoy beamed with pride. "The only class I like is herbology." 

"I like the classes that are not with Gryffindor," Malfoy said rudely, looking at her. 

"Well, that's nice. For that, I like classes that are not with Slytherin." 

"Fine by me." 

"Fine." 

He moved over to the cauldron to dump his ingredients in, but stepped on her foot by accident. "Ow!" she yelled. 

"Sorry," he mumbled. 

Maddie smiled and looked at him. "You know, you're not as awful as everyone says you are." 

"How awful does everyone say I am?" he asked with a little concern. "Not that I care." 

"They say that you're rude, inconsiderate, and just plain mean." Maddie looked at him. "I think you're none of those." 

Malfoy snorted. "What do they know? Potter and dream team are incredibly stuck up and snobby." 

"I don't think that's true either," she snapped. 

"You wouldn't" he mumbled. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, a angry fire flowing through her. 

"Well, you're one of them," he said, cocking his head toward the Gryffindor side of the classroom. 

"What's wrong with that?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. 

"You just…oh never mind. Just forget it." 

"What if I don't want to forget it?" She said, forming fists with her hands. 

"Look, McNestrelle…" 

"Maddie." 

"Huh?" he looked at her, confused. 

"Call me Maddie." 

"Ok," he said and looked at her. "Call me Draco then." 

"All right." She looked in his eyes and was surprised at how much he reminded her of Gray at that moment. 

*** 

"That was hilarious!" Ron said, laughing. "Malfoy turned his books into lizards in Transfigurations and had to spend the entire period chasing after them! That was so funny," he said with a grin. 

"Poor McGonagall, she looked as if she were about to kill him," Hermione chuckled. She turned and looked at Harry, who was picking at his food and not even smiling. "What's wrong?" she asked. 

"I'll tell you two later, ok?" he whispered to Hermione and Ron. They nodded in agreement. 

*** 

The three sat in the common room in silence, waiting for everyone else to go to bed. Harry was seated by the fireplace with Hermione next to him; Ron sat in the chair facing them. 

"Night Ron!" Ginny called out, the last one to leave for bed. When she had exited, Hermione and Ron turned and looked at Harry. He sighed and put his face in his hands. 

"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked impatiently. 

He looked up at them. "There have been some rumors of Voldemort gaining power." Hermione's eyes widened. She knew what was coming. "Dumbledore says that, that, he… I…," he paused for a minute, then started with more composure. "I'm probably his target. Either for revenge or to get me to join him." 

"Oh Harry," Hermione said and hugged him. A few tears ran down his face, then he wiped them away, embarrassed. Hermione looked down at her bracelet. If we ever need luck this is the time, she thought. Ron sat in his chair, white faced, clutching his legs. 

"Well, what are we going to do?" Hermione asked. 

"We?" Harry asked. 

"Oh come off it. We're not going to desert you when you need us the most." Hermione said, narrowing her eyes. 

"I can't ask this of you. You guys could get hurt, be killed,…" 

"How could we live with the knowledge that we didn't help?" Ron asked. The three sat in silence, just looking at each other. 

"Don't tell anyone," Harry suddenly began. "I mean…" 

"We know," Hermione said. She put her arm around him, and he rested his head on her shoulder. Ron got out of his chair and kneeled by them, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. The three of them sat like that for a very long time and cried silently; just being together as the 'dream team' they were. 

From the stairs Maddie watched them with tears running down her cheeks. No one had to tell her what they were crying about. She already knew. 

A/N: Who's Maddie?… I'll reveal it in the next part. Thank you for all your reviews on the last part, please review again! 


	3. Part Three

Maddie laid her head down on her desk in Potions. She was so exhausted. It had been another sleepless night. All that week she had been having horrible nightmares, all having to do with her mission. Her mission. She cringed. She had been ignoring it lately and been having fun with people who had no clue who the perfect Gwyneth was. Those who didn't know about her fourth year flees, or her diabetes. 

Diabetes. How she hated that word. Towards the end of her fourth year she had gotten sick. She felt dizzy, ate so much yet lost a lot of weight. Her parents had been shocked when she had been diagnosed; they both thought that a witch probably could not get such a disease. They had become so protective of her these last three years. Maddie hated these bounds. Her wild spirit was crying desperately to get out. Yet it had gotten better. During the last year, she had had considerably few fights with her mother. 

She shifted her focus back to Potions. Snape was lecturing the class about something. She really couldn't care less. She sighed heavily. 

"You ok?" Malfoy asked her with almost a bit of concern. She forced a small smile and nodded. 

"Now today we will be using the same partners as yesterday," Snape barked. The class groaned, with the exception of Maddie and Malfoy. She looked at him and he turned his head away. They had almost made a connection the day before. 

"Let's get started," Malfoy said and started to heat the cauldron. Maddie started to chop ingredients and he sat down next to her and began to help. 

"Can I ask you something?" she asked bluntly. 

"Shoot," he answered, not looking up from his cutting. 

"It's a bit personal." 

He looked up at her with interest. "Go ahead." 

"Why are you so cross? I mean, why don't you try to get along with other people?" 

He looked at her quizzically. "I do try and I succeed," he said stuffily. 

"Not with any other house than Slytherin." 

Malfoy sighed. "Maddie, look. They're not exactly angels to me either." 

"Well, if you'd be nice once maybe they would be." 

"You don't understand." 

"Try me." 

"It's," he started. "It's my father." 

"What about him?" Maddie asked. 

"It's nothing. Just forget it." he snapped angrily. He started to chop with more force, almost cutting his finger. 

"Draco," Maddie said and placed a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her. Good god, he looks like Grayson, she thought. All he needs are some freckles and they could be twins. 

"Why do you care?" he said. His voice had a bit of a shake in it. 

"I just do. Tell me," she pleaded. 

"My father doesn't approve of me associating with other houses." 

"You're associating with me." 

"We are working together on a class assignment," he sneered. "Are you a mudblood?" 

"No. Is your father opposed to them also?" 

"Yes. He hates them the most," Malfoy sighed. 

"Well, I think your father is either a jerk or a bit crazed," she stated. 

"He's the former," he said with a grin. "The latter describes my mother." Maddie laughed. "Which really works because they hate each other's guts!" he started to laugh. "What about your parents?" 

"They're both, so, I don't know, perfect. Especially my mother. She's brilliant and just good at everything. I don't know how I'm her kid." 

"Do they like each other?" 

"Yeah," Maddie admitted. 

"Then you're lucky. I wish my parents got along. Actually what happens is they don't talk to each other at all. I live in silence," he said with a small, sad smile. 

Maddie paused and looked at him. "Why do you keep on looking over at Harry and co. during class? You don't have a crush on Hermione, do you?" she joked, trying to change the subject. 

Malfoy snorted. "No way." 

"Well, who do you like?" Maddie asked. "I think I know." 

"No you don't." 

"I think I do, but, whatever," she smiled. She looked at him again. He was actually handsome, with his blonde hair and blue eyes. She missed Gray so much. 

*** 

Harry sat at the foot of their tree. He had just gotten done with Quidditch and was now thinking profusely. He didn't want to die. He saw Hermione walking toward him and forced a smile. 

"Hey," he said as she sat down next to him. 

"Hey," she returned greeting. 

"Where's Ron?" he asked. 

"Off flirting with the sixth years," she grinned. "Real mature of him, but this is Ron. Oblivious to the world." She looked at him worriedly. "What's wrong?" 

"I was just thinking," he said softly. She nodded. 

"You want me to go?" Hermione offered, getting up. 

"No, no. Don't." She sat down again, watching the Hufflepuff Quidditch team practice. 

"They're really bad," she pointed out. 

Harry grinned. "Yep. Of course, the one time we've lost a game we ironically lost to Hufflepuff." 

"Amazing," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Because they are really, really bad." 

"Hermione, about the other night…" 

"Yes?" 

"I want you to know that I appreciate your and Ron's support, but I don't want to endanger you two," he said slowly. 

"We're not changing our minds. We're with you 100%," she said stubbornly, then she looked up at him. "We're friends, right?" 

"Right," he whispered softly. He didn't know what came over him. He just had a feeling wash through him. He leaned very close to her, looking into her eyes. She shut them and he leaned closer…. 

Bam! A bludger hit the tree and threw them both back apart from each other. "Sorry!" a fourth-year Hufflepuff beater called out. Harry and Hermione just looked at each other for a minute. 

"Well, I have got to be going," Hermione said. 

"Yeah, we've got homework." 

"And with our N.E.W.T.'s coming soon, I need to be studying," she rambled. "Bye!" she called out and left. 

Stupid, she chastised herself as she left. You're scared. Scared of a lot of things. 

*** 

Ginny walked to the Gryffindor common room from the Great Hall with Ron and her friends. He was obvious flirting with her best friend, Rosalie. It was very uncomfortable because Rosalie had confided in her days earlier that she thought Ron was 'hot'. Ginny had felt like vomiting at that statement, but being the good friend she was she held it in. 

Does Rosalie have to be so smart? She thought to herself. She was carrying Rosalie's books along with her own and they weighed at least fifty pounds. Probably in total she was carrying eighty pounds of books. She dawdled behind Ron and Rosalie, farther and farther behind until they turned a corner and left her behind. Thanks guys, she sneered. 

"Need a hand?" a voice came from behind her. 

It was not a voice she expected. Ginny turned around to find Draco Malfoy standing there, offering to help her. "Sure," she mumbled, still in shock. "Here." She handed him Rosalie's books. 

"How many courses does she take?" Malfoy whined. 

"A few too many," Ginny said with a grin. Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin, trying to help her, a Gryffindor sixth-year whose brother he despised? This didn't fit. "Why are you doing this?" 

"I'm trying to be nice," he said. 

"Why?" 

"I found out today that I'm usually not very nice to people. I'm trying to change that," he said kindly. 

"Oh." Ginny mumbled, awestruck. "Thanks." 

"Don't mention it," he said with a smile. "Why are you alone?" 

"My brother and my best friend went off and left me, flirting." He chuckled at that. 

"Sounds like something Weasley would do," he said. "No offense, Ginny, but your brother is…" 

"Not with it?" she finished. He nodded. "None taken. He's like that. He's quite a player, and I'm a bit worried about Rosalie." 

"She'll be fine," he said. They reached the Gryffindor common room. "Here you go," he said, handing her back Rosalie's books. 

"Bye. Thanks again," she said. He waved and walked away. That was odd, Ginny thought to herself. 

*** 

Maddie looked at herself in her mirror. She had to admit that she was pretty. If one really wanted to make a contest out of things, she was prettier than Gwyneth. Her bright green eyes almost sparkled. Her long chestnut hair went halfway down her back. Her nose was cute and 'bunny-ish' as Gwyneth had called it. Her teeth were small and perfect, unlike Gwyneth's slightly bucked teeth. 

Just then Hermione came into the dorm and threw herself on her bed. Maddie froze. She turned around and looked at Hermione. "What's wrong?" she asked. 

"Ugh!" Hermione groaned. "Just things." She sat up and looked at Maddie. "You have very pretty eyes." 

"Thanks," Maddie said, uncomfortable. 

"Can I tell you something?" she asked. 

"Sure," Maddie said, sitting on the bed facing her. "What is it?" 

"Oh, it's embarrassing." 

"Oh, come on. You know you want to tell me," Maddie grinned. 

"Well, I was outside by the Quidditch field, and Harry and I were talking." 

"Uh huh. Go on." 

"Well, he almost kissed me. We were interrupted by a bludger of the team that was practicing," Hermione said solemnly, biting her bottom lip. 

"Wow, Hermione! That's great!" 

"I don't know," she sighed. "I mean, we're best friends. It might ruin our friendship." 

"Well, don't you want more than friendship?" Maddie asked. 

"Yes. Yes and no. I guess I do. I don't know. I'm so confused." She sighed and put her face in her hands. 

"If he had kissed you, would it have been your first?" 

"Yes," she admitted. "Pretty sad, huh?" 

"Not really." She was so naïve about some things. Maddie felt a rush of guilt flow through her. 

"I have to go to the library. It was good talking to you." 

"Good talking to you too," Maddie said. 

"Bye." 

"Bye." 

She watched Hermione leave. Poor girl, she was so wonderful and had such little self confidence. She was perfect. Maddie happened to know that Ron had a crush on her during their third and fourth year, and Harry had liked her for a year. Poor perfect Hermione. 

Maddie felt horribly guilty. Hermione was nice, but Maddie was seeing something in her she had never noticed before. She had been watching her very closely and intensely, searching for something, anything. And she found something. She was confused. Perfect Hermione was confused and torn about something. Maddie had always thought that she had had the answer to everything. Here she was, just as confused as Maddie always was. It was small and a bit stupid, but it made her feel closer to her than ever before. She took a picture of Hermione off of Hermione's bedside table. 

"I'm sorry," Maddie mumbled softly, fingering the photo. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I put you through everything I have. I'm sorry I wasn't as good as Gwyneth. I'm sorry I didn't try harder. I'm sorry I'm not smart and I'm sorry I can't play Quidditch and I'm sorry I can't make you proud of me." Tears were falling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I put you through hell my fourth year. I'm sorry I ran away. I'm so sorry I got sick. You didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve your kindness. I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you Mum. And I will make it up to you. I will. You and Dad. I'll save you. And I promise I'll never hurt you again. I love you." 

She took a family photo she had hid under her pillow. It was about three years old. It was taken in the summer before her fourth year. She saw her fourteen year old self smiling broadly. Gwyneth was next to her, grinning, wearing her head girl badge with pride. The was Jamie, who was starting his first year that fall, holding his first wand. He looked just like their father had when he was smaller. The behind them where their parents. There they were, aged about twenty years, her father with his wild black hair and glasses, and her mother with her warm cinnamon eyes and long brown hair. 

"I love you all," Maddie said. "I won't rest until you are alive." 

A/N: Now you know who she is! (In case you didn't, she's Harry & Hermione's daughter.) Please please please review guys! I hate not getting feedback. I'm begging you! J 


	4. Part Four

Maddie laid on her bed, eyes closed, asleep. The moonlight hit her face at an angle and reflected off of her. She was in a deep sleep, a dreaming slumber. 

*"Maddie, where are you going?" Gray asked her as she mounted her broom for the open window. 

"I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe Egypt, maybe America, maybe to the North Pole to visit Santa. I don't know." 

Gray rolled his eyes. "You have to stop doing this." 

"Doing what?" 

"Running from your problems." 

Maddie bit her bottom lip. "I'm not running from my problems." 

"Then what would you call what you are doing?" 

Maddie paused. "Leaving." She grinned. "Trying to make my parents have a heart attack." 

"I pity your parents," Gray said. 

"Oh yes. Poor them. They wind up with me. Pathetic me." 

"I don't think you're pathetic," Gray whispered softly. 

"You kind of just said that I was." 

"Maddie, don't go," he pleaded. 

"Why shouldn't I?" 

"Don't leave me. You're my best friend, Madeleine Rose Potter. Please don't go." 

Maddie looked at him intensely. "All right. But only because you asked me not too." 

He grinned. "Ok. Whatever you say."* 

Maddie woke up from her dream. She rolled over on her stomach and pushed her face into her pillow. She felt something choking her. She felt her throat and loosened the delicate chain with the hourglass on it that was tangled around her neck. Stupid time-turner, she sneered. Stupid, stupid time-turner. She got the instinct to through it across the room, but decided against it. 

She opened the photo album that was beneath her bed. It was full of pictures, all pictures from the future. There was her parent's wedding, Maddie's birth and baby pictures, birthdays and days at the beach, pictures of Gwyneth and flaming red haired William, Maddie and Grayson, and even little Jamie. There were pictures at the beach, Diagon ally, Hogwarts, their little house outside London, everywhere. She loved looking at these pictures. 

She wondered why they hadn't faded yet. Weren't they dead? She was dead, Gwyneth was dead, Jamie was dead. Actually, had they died if they had never been born? She wondered. Why wasn't this showing on the pictures? 

She had no clue why they had sent her for the mission. Gwyneth would have been able to do a better job. She was smarter. She understood why Jamie had not been sent though. He was too young and he looked too much like Harry. People would start to wonder. 

All she really remembered was one minute she had been in the living room, playing chess with Jamie, Gwyneth reading on the couch, her parents talking. Then everything stopped. They all disappeared. She was the only one left. And she was a ghost. She remembered McGonagall coming to her, telling her the plan, giving her the time-turner, wishing her luck. It went by too fast to remember details. 

She turned over and looked at the clock. Six o'clock. She sighed and got up for the next day. 

*** 

"I did something nice yesterday," Draco Malfoy told her proudly in Potions that day. 

"Really?" Maddie answered with interest. "What did you do?" 

"I helped Ginny Weasley carry her books to her common room." 

"I'm proud of you. Was it really that hard?" she asked. 

"No," he admitted. 

"Keep it up," she suggested. 

"Maybe I will. As long as Potter and his gang keep off my back." 

"If you don't provoke them, they will." 

They poured the ingredients they had spent two days cutting into the cauldron. The cauldron bubbled for a minute, the became calm. 

"What do we do now?" Maddie asked. 

"We let it sit." He said. "Can I ask you something?" 

"Sure," she grinned. 

"You're a girl, right?" 

Maddie laughed. "Last time I checked." 

Malfoy glowered at her. "I was being serious." He said, hurt. 

"Go ahead." 

"Well, uh, what exactly do girls like?" he asked nervously. 

"Does Draco have a crush on someone?" she joked. 

"Shut up." He snapped. 

"Who's the lucky girl?" Maddie asked. She knew who it was, but she had to humor him. 

"I'm not telling you." 

"I think I know who it is," she grinned. Then she whispered something in his ear. His face turned bright red. 

"How did you know?" he asked. 

"Well, I know you haven't been bugging her brother lately, and she was the first one you were nice to." 

"Don't tell anyone, ok?" he begged. 

"Who would I tell?" she inquired. 

"Oh come on," Malfoy barked. "Everyone crowds around you; you're the new school socialite." He grinned. "We needed a new one since Cho Chang left." 

Cho Chang, that name rang familiar. She chuckled and remembered her mother mentioning her with disgust; the two did not get along. 

"Really?" she joked. "I thought that was you." 

"Funny," he said and gave her a friendly shove. "Just don't turn into the gossip story of the week." 

"You actually think I would do that?" she inquired. 

He studied for a moment before he answered. "No. You're different from them." He paused. "You're not stuck up like Potter and company, nor prissy like Brown and Patil." 

Maddie grinned. "I'll take that as a complement." 

*** 

It was a rainy and slow Friday night. Most of the Gryffindor girls sat in their dormitory, talking and laughing and gossiping. Hermione was laying on her bed reading a book, trying to ignore the other girl's giggles. Maddie shook herself from the ongoing conversations to gaze at her. I miss her, she thought. I even miss Gwyneth. 

"I'm bored," Lavender stated profoundly. 

"So am I," Parvati agreed. 

"Well, then you're lucky to have the acquaintance of Madam Madeleine, the wisest fortune teller of all the Northern Hemisphere." Maddie joked. 

"You tell fortunes?" Ginny asked. 

"You stink at Divination," Parvati pointed out. 

"Well, I can tell fortunes. I shall gaze into the unknown and find the truths of the future," Maddie grinned. She heard Hermione snort. 

"Fortunes indeed," Hermione grumbled. 

"Would you like to be my first victim, Hermione?" Maddie asked. 

"No thank you," Hermione stated, not looking up from her book. 

"That's because she doesn't know how to have fun," Lavender mumbled under her breath. Some of the younger girls giggled, making Hermione look up from her book and glare at Lavender. 

"You know Maddie, you can tell my fortune. Come here," Hermione said, sitting up. 

Grinning, Maddie walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. "I need to see your palm." Hermione stuck her hand out. Maddie held her hand and pretended to study her palm. "Hmmmmmmm," Maddie hummed. "Calling the sages." 

"This is ridiculous," Hermione whined. 

"Let's see," Maddie said. "What should I predict first? Career, family, love life?" 

"Love life," Lavender and Parvati said simultaneously. 

"All right." Maddie shut her eyes. "This is fuzzy." She wasn't about to go ahead and say who her future husband was, but she felt she could drop hints. "I can't see him, but I can feel his presence." She heard Hermione snort again. "He's caring and brave. I can feel the closeness the two of you share in your relationship." 

"Who is he?" Ginny asked. 

"I told you; I can't see him," Maddie snapped. "That's all I'm getting on him. Let's move on to another topic." 

"Career," Hermione said. 

"I can see you in a leadership position," Maddie said. "It's a very important job. I think it's for the Ministry." 

"That narrows it down," Hermione grumbled. 

"Hey," Maddie barked, suddenly angry. "One more remark like that and I'll make you marry a vampire from Transylvania and have two hundred kids and be a homemaker. No job. So shut up!" Hermione shrunk back at first, then burst out laughing. She laid her head on her pillow, laughing hysterically. Maddie looked at her like she was nuts, then joined in laughing. 

"Ok, I'm sorry," Hermione said between giggles. "What's next in my future?" 

"Family," Maddie smiled. "Let's see." She paused. "You are going to have three kids." 

"Three?" Hermione asked. "That's a lot." 

"Yes, you have three children. Two girls and a boy." 

"I bet they're all little Hermione clones, right? Walking brains," Parvati said. Both Hermione and Maddie glared at her. 

"No, they're not," Maddie smiled. "The oldest one is a lot like her mother, and the youngest one is like his father." 

"What about the middle one?" Hermione asked. 

Me, Maddie thought. I'm the middle one, she wanted to shout. "I don't know about her yet. I'm still trying to figure her out." 

*** 

The next Monday Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, eating her dinner in silence. She had been held back from Potions to clean up a mess that her partner had made. Of course her partner was a Slytherin, she thought angrily. It had taken her forever to clean it up, so by the time she got to the Great Hall, it was practically empty except for a few obnoxious Slytherin six years. I'm having such a lovely day, she thought. 

Her chicken was already cold, which she hated. All the good vegetables had been picked over all ready, leaving her with the ones that had been squashed or were overripe. This is great. Just great, she said to herself. I'm not even hungry. 

Just then she noticed that three of the Slytherins were walking over to her. One of them was her Potions partner, who completely hated her for no reason whatsoever. 

"This day is getting better and better," she mumbled under her breath. 

"Well, hello Weasley," her partner, Beset, said with a mock politeness. "What are you doing here?" Not giving her a chance to answer, he went on. "I think you know Dolt and Clod here." 

"Hello," Ginny said. 

"What happened to all your little friends, Weasley? No Rosalie or any of your brother's friends here, are they?" Beset inquired. 

"They've already eaten." 

"Why haven't you?" Beset asked slyly. 

"You know very well why!" Ginny cried. "I had to clean up your mess after Potions!" 

Beset chuckled. "Poor little Ginny Weasley. Let's have pity on little Weasley. No money, no friends, no talent…" 

"Look who's talking? No talent indeed!" Ginny yelled. 

Beset's face reddened. "At least I have the money to by myself decent robes!" 

"Money isn't everything," Ginny said softly. 

"I beg to differ, Weasley. My father has power. I have power. My family name has power. What power does the Weasley name have? None!" Beset said, regaining his cool. 

"What does power do if you don't have the brains to correctly use it?" 

Beset grinned. "To make sure people like you never have power. You're nothing, Weasley. You're just a little speck of lent. You won't make a difference in the world." 

Don't let him know he's upset you, Ginny thought. Never let on. "And you will?" 

"Of course. You're nothing, Weasley," he repeated. 

"Leave her alone," a voice said from behind Ginny. 

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Beset asked, confused. 

"I said, leave her alone," Malfoy said again. 

"What?" Beset repeated, so confused he felt dizzy. Malfoy sticking up for a Gryffindor? That didn't connect. 

"Let me see if I can make this any clearer," Malfoy said. "Take your dimwit 'friends' here and get out. Comprehend?" 

Beset took one last bewildered glance at Malfoy, and then Ginny, and left the Great Hall. Ginny didn't feel much better herself. First Malfoy helped her carry her books, then stood up for her in front of his fellow Slytherins? She was extremely confused. 

"Are you ok?" Malfoy asked her with concern. 

"Uh, yeah," Ginny said dumbly. "I'm fine." 

"Good," he said. He pulled out a chair and sat down beside her. "Why are you eating so late?" 

"Snape made me clean up Beset's mess in Potions," she said. 

"Why?" he asked. 

"Because Snape hates me and adores Beset, for some strange reason." 

"Beset is a self-obsessed, spoiled ass," Malfoy grumbled. 

Much like yourself, or like you were, Ginny thought. "He is. All he can talk about is his family fortune and his 'connections'." 

"Money and connections aren't everything," Malfoy said. 

Ginny was dumbstruck. Was this Malfoy? Had someone human taken over his body? Why was he acting like this? 

"What's wrong?" he asked her. 

"Why are you doing this?" she finally asked. 

"Doing what?" 

"This? Being nice, helping me carry my books, standing up for me? And then thinking money and connections, which you used to brag over, are nothing? What's going on?" 

Malfoy stared at her and then blushed. "I…I guess I realized that money and connections and being mean wasn't really getting me anywhere, so I decided to change." 

"You just decided one day out of the blue to change your ways?" Ginny asked. 

"Well, I had a little help from a friend," he said, thinking of Maddie. 

"Well, I guess I like the new Malfoy better than the old one," she said softly. 

Malfoy felt his heart jump with joy. "Really?" 

"Really!" she laughed. "What are you doing here, anyway?" 

"Looking for McNestrelle," he said. 

"Maddie?" 

"Yeah. She left her bracelet in Potions and I was going to give it back to her." He held out Maddie's charm bracelet. 

"That's Hermione's," Ginny said. 

"No, it's Maddie's," he argued. "She's worn it every day since she came." 

"Hermione has worn hers everyday since Harry got it for her sixteenth birthday. Poor girl, she's probably in hysterics with it missing." 

"It's Maddie's," he snapped. 

"Why are you so sure?" 

"I saw her take it off to stir the Potion this morning. She left it on the table. Can't it just be a coincidence that they have the same one?" 

"No, Harry had that one especially made for her. There's an engraving somewhere…" she fingered the bracelet. "I can't find it, but I know it was kind of hidden, somewhere…" 

"Well, Maddie was wearing it in Potions today. Can you give it back to her?" Malfoy asked. 

"Sure," Ginny agreed. 

"Thanks," he said. Just then Ron walked into the Great Hall. "I've got to go. Bye Ginny," he said quickly and left. 

"Why was HE here?" Ron asked in disgust. "What did he say to you?" 

"He wasn't being mean, Ron. And it's none of your business," Ginny said. Ron eyed her suspiciously. 

"What did he do to you?" Ron inquired. 

"Nothing!" Ginny cried. She picked up her things and left the Great Hall, with Ron in shock. How dare he butt into her private life? I wish I were an only child sometimes, Ginny thought. *** 

Hermione was laying on the couch in the common room, reading ahead in Charms. She wasn't behind, she just would feel better if she was a bit ahead of everyone else. 

"Hello," she heard a voice coming from above her. It was Harry. 

"Hello," she said. The two had not been really speaking to each other since they had almost kissed a few days before. 

"What are you reading?" he asked. 

"Charms," she answered. 

He groaned. "Will you ever forget about school work?" 

She grinned. "Probably not." 

He glanced down at the couch. "Can I sit here?" he asked. 

"I really don't feel like moving," she joked. "You can go sit there," she said, pointing to an adjacent chair. 

"Ok," he said and lifted her feet up. He sat down at the other end of the couch, then placed her feet back in his lap. 

"Or you could do that," she said. "I don't care. Just don't bother me. I really have to read." 

"Ok." 

About five minutes went by. Hermione could feel Harry playing with her feet but tried not to notice, unsuccessfully. She put her book down and was ready to give him a lecture when she noticed how bad he looked. 

"Are you ok?" she asked. 

He looked over at her and she saw the dark circles under his eyes. "No," he said bluntly. 

She sat up and scooted closer to him. "What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?" 

He put his head in his hands, then looked up at her. "Can we go outside?" 

"Let's go," she said quickly, helping him up. The two walked outside in silence. They sat down on the bleachers, watching the Slytherin Quidditch team practice. 

"Well?" she started. 

"Dumbledore and I had a little 'chat' today," he said. 

"And…" 

"And the rumors are true. Voldemort is gaining power and he already has followers." 

Hermione closed her eyes. "Why you?" she whispered. 

"I asked Dumbledore that too," Harry said. "According to him, I'm very powerful. My dad was powerful, my mum was powerful, so I'm even more powerful." 

"Powerful enough to beat him?" Hermione asked hopefully. 

"Not if he has full power," Harry said. 

"Then why does he want you! If you can't beat him, and you're not going to join him, why does he care?" Hermione yelled. 

"Dumbledore has a 'theory' on that," Harry scoffed. 

"Which is…" 

"He most likely doesn't want revenge. But Hermione," he paused. "If he lets me live, and if I marry a powerful witch, than my children will be strong, so strong that they could easily destroy him." 

"You-know-who just doesn't want you to have children?" 

"Basically." 

"That's pretty stupid," Hermione said huffily. She wrapped her arms around her legs. "Why doesn't he just kill off all the powerful wizards and witches then?" 

"Because I'm more powerful than all of them," he said softly. "I have this… thing. Quality. I don't know. It's very rare among wizards." He paused for a moment and wiped a tear from his cheek. "It's like this extreme strength, but it could only be used for good. It's part of the reason I lived." He looked at her. "That's the best I can explain it, because I really don't understand it." 

"If you have this, then why can't you beat him?" Hermione asked. 

"Because the dark arts are much, much stronger than most light magic. What I don't understand is why my children would be that much stronger than me." 

"Maybe…" Hermione began, but stopped. 

"What?" 

"It's nothing. Stupid." 

"Nothing's stupid. Tell me." 

"Well, is it possible that he already knows some how that your children are so strong? What if he used a time-turner or something?" 

Harry studied her for a moment. "I guess it's possible," he admitted. 

"Why would they be though?" Hermione asked, looking up at the sky. 

"Let's not talk about this anymore. It's depressing," Harry said. 

Hermione nodded. "You look awful," she pointed out. 

"Hermione!" 

"Well, you do. Are you not sleeping?" she asked. 

He sighed. "Not really. Sleeping doesn't really seem important when you're going to die." 

"Don't say that," she said softly. 

"Why not? It's the truth, isn't it?" 

She grabbed his hand. "You're not. We'll figure out something, ok?" 

"Ok," he said, not wanting to argue with her. He brushed a strand of hair back from her face and behind her ear. He felt the same feeling that he had felt the day they were sitting by their tree. He looked at her eyes and realized how close they were. 

Don't be scared, he told himself. He leaned in closer to her, gently put his hand to her cheek and kissed her. 

*** 

Ginny walked into the common room in search of Maddie. I really thought this was Hermione's, she thought. She found Maddie lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. 

"Maddie?" she asked. 

Maddie rolled over to face her. "Hey Ginny." 

"Uh, Malfoy found this and told me to give it to you. He said you left it in Potions," Ginny said, handing her the bracelet. 

"Thank you!" Maddie cried. She went and hugged Ginny. "Thanks!" 

"Sure, anytime," Ginny said, confused. No one's acting normal today, she thought. "I've got to go. Bye!" 

"Bye!" Maddie called out to Ginny as she exited the dormitory. Maddie looked at the bracelet and kissed it. 

"I missed you," she said, then giggled. She looked at a charm pieces, one in particular. One was shaped like a hippogriff. She looked at the underside of the animal. 

"To Hermione. Love Harry," she read of the engravement. She wondered if Hermione had hers on now. She guessed so, she had never taken it off. 

She clasped her mother's bracelet around her wrist. She felt tears run down her cheeks, but she was smiling at all the happy times her family, Hermione, Harry, Gwyneth, Jamie, and herself, had shared. 

And hopefully they would share many happy times to come. 

A/N: Please review! I'm sorry it took so long for part 3&4 to come out. I have no clue how long this story will be. PLEASE REVIEW! Pretty please with cherries on top? J 


	5. Part Five

Maddie sat in the girl's dormitory, flipping through Lavender Brown's CD's. Let's see,   
Mariah Carey, Brandy, TLC, Hootie and the Blowfish, Counting Crows. Maddie wanted to listen   
to N*Sync. Stupid, she chastised herself. This is only 1997; N*Sync's debut didn't come out   
for another year.   
  
I'm so bored, she thought. Her mind turned to her little brother, Jamie. What would he do?   
She smiled. Jamie was so fun, so mischievous, yet so caring at the same time. Maddie had   
been closer to Jamie than she had ever been to Gwyneth, most likely because she always felt   
overshadowed by perfect Gwyneth. Maddie thought about him. He looks so much like Dad. She thought about his three best friends, all whom Maddie adored: Adam Weasley, Mark Peterson, and Gretchen Parker.   
  
She loved Gretchen Parker; Gretchen was most likely her only female friend. Gretchen was very pretty, with a cute round face and long, shiny brown hair. Maddie remembered all the times she had tried to play matchmaker between Jamie and Gretchen, with no success. They'll end up together, she thought, eventually. Gretchen was loud and daring at times, but also could be quiet and mellow. Her loud and daring moments, however, outnumbered her quiet and mellow ones.  
Maddie heard someone coming up the stairs and quickly hid under her bed. She watched Harry and Hermione enter the room, kissing.  
  
"You're so beautiful," Harry whispered, out of breath.  
  
Hermione laughed. "You're pretty good looking yourself, Romeo."  
  
They stood in the middle of the room, just tangled in each other's arms, kissing each other passionately. It's so sweet, Maddie thought. It's so weird to see your parents making out, but it's different if they're seventeen. You can understand them better.  
  
"I should go," Harry mumbled, moving his lips down her neck.  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"It's late. Everyone will be coming up here for bed in a minute."  
  
She looked in his eyes. "Then in a minute you'll go. Not now." He bent his head to kiss her again.  
  
I shouldn't be watching this, Maddie thought. It's not like I've never seen them kiss before though. This is most likely their first time though. I'm sure by the time I'm born they've kissed millions of times. Maddie watched them with interest. Are they using tongue? She thought to herself, then scolded herself for thinking it. It made her miss Gray. I wonder what it would be like to kiss him.  
  
"I really should be going," he whispered between kisses.  
  
"Aren't we going to talk about it?" she asked.  
  
He drew back a bit. "Talk about what?"  
  
"This. Where did it come from? What does it mean?"  
  
He sighed and withdrew from her arms. He walked over and sat on her bed. "Hermione," he whined.  
  
"What?" she said. She sat down next to him and he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.  
  
Harry kissed the top of her head. "Hermione…"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I don't know where to start," he whispered.  
  
"How about the beginning?" she suggested with a grin.  
  
"We shouldn't be doing this."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's dangerous, Hermione." He tilted her head towards him and looked into her eyes. "You can get hurt."  
  
"What are you talking about?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.  
  
"Voldemort. You know what we were talking about earlier?"  
  
"About Voldemort not wanting you to have children?"  
  
"Yeah. I didn't tell you everything Dumbledore said."  
  
Hermione drew away from him. "Well, you better tell me everything now."  
  
Harry put his face in his hands. "Dumbledore asked me when I was in his office, if, uh, I had , uh, feelings about anyone and could imagine staying with this person, uh, forever."  
  
Hermione was beginning to understand. "You said me, didn't you?"  
  
Harry nodded. "Yeah I did. Please don't think I'm being too forward or anything, I just said…"  
  
"I don't think that. Go on."  
  
"Well, he said that you were probably the worst choice possible." Harry bit his tongue after he said that.  
  
"Worst choice possible?" Hermione snapped.  
  
"You're a powerful witch, as well as brilliant. If we ever had children…"  
  
"They'd be so powerful they could defeat Voldemort," Hermione finished.  
  
"That pretty much sums it up. I don't want you getting hurt, or killed!"  
  
Hermione sighed. "It's my own choice to get involved."  
  
"Hermione!" Harry cried. "Please don't! I knew you'd do this; that's why I didn't say anything."  
  
"I'm not going to just leave you for dead, all right? Nothing has changed. I'm going to stick with you, and so is Ron. We care so much about you," Hermione said.  
  
"I care about you too. You and Ron, you're everything to me. I don't have anyone else in the world."  
  
"Then lean on us. Let us help you."  
  
He looked at her with sad eyes. "No one can help me."  
  
She reached out and took his hand in her own. "Don't say that, because you know it's not true. You're just feeling sorry for yourself." She gently kissed his hand.  
  
"Don't I deserve to feel sorry for myself?"  
  
Hermione smiled. "No, you don't. Look at all you have. You're a hero. Everyone cares about you, especially me and Ron."  
  
Harry grinned. "You're right. I have you." With that he leaned in and kissed her again.  
  
Maddie's heart broke for both of them. They were so, human, unlike the image of them she had from the future. They were so fragile, yet strong. Maddie's own eyes watered, thinking of the grief she put on her parents in her own life with her rebelling. She realized how much they cared about her.   
  
Harry was holding Hermione close to him, her eyes shut against his chest. Her breathing slowed as she fell asleep in his arms. Harry was also starting to doze off, so the two laid down against the pillows, holding each other closely.  
  
Maddie heard voices and footsteps coming up the stairs, so she crawled from under the bed.  
  
"Can you believe Flitwick?" Lavender said. "He wants a yard of parchment on invisibility charms by Monday! I mean, come on! There's nothing on the subject."  
  
"I so totally know," Parvati agreed. "I…" She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the sleeping Harry and Hermione. "Oh, goodness," she said with a sly grin.  
  
"Shhhhhh," Maddie hissed. "Be quiet. You don't want to wake them up."  
  
"How long have you been sitting here?" Lavender asked.  
  
"A while. Leave them alone."  
  
Parvati looked at the sleeping couple. "It's sweet, I guess." She snorted. "It'd be sweeter if it was with someone other than Hermione."  
  
"I think they're cute together," Maddie whispered.  
  
"What have they been doing?" Parvati asked, raising her eyebrows. "They haven't been naughty, have they?" She grinned evilly.  
  
Maddie threw a pillow at her. "Of course not. They've just been talking."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And kissing," Maddie giggled.  
  
"How do you know?" Lavender inquired.  
  
"I was under the bed, watching them the entire time."  
  
"Quite the peeping Ton, aren't we?" Parvati joked.  
  
"I was already in here, and I heard them coming so I hid," Maddie explained.  
  
Lavender and Parvati giggled. "You're so funny, Maddie," Lavender said.  
  
"Oh, I know," Maddie agreed, making the three of them laugh harder.  
  
***   
  
Ginny and Rosalie were walking down the street in Hogsmeade the next day, a Saturday.  
  
"Did you hear about Seamus and Hannah?" Rosalie asked.  
  
"No, I didn't. What happened?" Ginny inquired.  
  
"They broke up."  
  
Ginny groaned. "They were such a cute couple."  
  
"That's all they were, cute," Rosalie grinned. "They couldn't stand each other!"  
  
"Then why did they go out?"  
  
Rosalie shrugged. "People do stupid things. Very stupid things." She grinned evilly. "Why don't you try for Seamus?" She opened her bag of every flavor jelly beans and popped one into her mouth.  
  
Ginny laughed nervously. "No way!"  
  
"Why not?" Rosalie asked. "He'd go out with you if you asked him. Unless there's someone else…"  
  
Ginny bit her lip. Ever since Draco Malfoy had talked to her in the cafeteria the night before, she had been getting a strange feeling in her stomach every time she thought of him.   
  
"Earth to Ginny," Rosalie laughed. "Who's the lucky boy? I haven't seen you this out there since you had the hots for hero Harry." She giggled. "Speaking of Harry, I do believe he is a little taken with Miss Granger. Look," she said, pointing at Hermione and Harry walking down the street, hand in hand.  
  
Ginny giggled. "I'm happy for them. They're both really the nicest people." Ginny paused and looked at Rosalie. "If I tell you something, do you absolutely swear on your grave that you won't tell anyone?"  
  
  
Rosalie looked at her. "You know I won't tell! You should trust me! What are best friends for?" She looked hurt.  
  
Ginny looked around. "Well, this isn't exactly normal information. It's very private."  
  
"Shoot. Tell me and I'll be your living diary." Rosalie put another jelly bean in her mouth.  
  
Ginny swallowed. "I think I like…"  
  
"Go on, sweetie."  
  
"Draco Malfoy."   
  
Rosalie choked on her jelly bean. "What did you say?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"Draco Malfoy," Ginny repeated, weakly.  
  
Rosalie looked at her in the eyes. "He's a Slytherin."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Your brother and Draco absolutely despise each other."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Your dad and his dad are worst enemies!" Rosalie cried.  
  
"I know."  
  
Rosalie paused for a minute. Then she smiled. "That semi-evil thing is kind of a turn on."  
  
"I know."  
  
"And he is pretty cute," Rosalie said.  
  
"Boy, do I know."  
  
Rosalie looked at her. "You've always liked challenges."  
  
"He's certainly a challenge," Ginny stated.  
  
"Oh yeah. And a blonde really wouldn't clash with your hair. A brunette might, as another red head would. But a blonde would fit you nicely." Rosalie joked.  
  
"Thank you," Ginny said.  
  
"About what?" Rosalie asked.  
  
"About being so great about this. Most people would be so flabbergasted or disgusted or mad…"  
  
"Ginny, hon, I know that I annoy you to death when I talk about my crush on your brother. But you never say anything. You always listen and give me honest advice. I think I owe you the same courtesy. Besides," Rosalie grinned, "he is hot."  
  
"Don't get any ideas!" Ginny cried. Rosalie laughed.  
  
***  
  
Harry pulled on Hermione's hand. "Let's go get some butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks," he suggested.  
  
"Like a date?" she grinned.  
  
"Like a date," he agreed, and wrapped his arm around her. "Let's go."  
  
"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked?  
  
Harry shrugged. "I think he went off with Lavender and Parvati and Maddie."  
  
"Poor Ron," she sighed. "We were ignoring him."  
  
"I guess we were," Harry agreed. He looked at her and sighed. "Do you want to go and find him?"  
  
"Yes," She said. Harry sighed again.  
  
"He went this way, so let's go."  
  
***  
  
Draco Malfoy walked down the street. He saw Ginny and Rosalie standing in front of him. He felt his muscles tense from just looking at Ginny. She was so beautiful. Her red hair blew in the breeze, and her freckled face shone. He cared so much about her.   
  
"Hey Ginny," he called out casually.  
  
"Uh, hey Draco," she said.   
  
"I'm going to go, I need to get some more jelly beans!" Rosalie exclaimed. "I'm addicted to these things!" With that Rosalie walked off, leaving Ginny alone with Draco.  
  
"It's windy," he said dumbly, at a lack of a better conversation starter.  
  
"Uh, yeah, it is," Ginny agreed.  
  
He met her eyes. "Are you cold?"  
  
"Uh, a little," she admitted. Draco smiled at her. She looked cold in her shorts and tank top.  
  
"Here," he said, taking off his jacket and placing it around her shoulders.  
  
"Thanks," she said.  
  
"Still cold?" he asked.  
  
Ginny shook her head. "Not anymore."  
  
"Ginny, I've been thinking," he started.  
  
"Me too," she said quickly.  
  
"You go first," he said.  
  
"Ok. Look, does it really make that much of a difference of what house we're in?"  
  
Draco took a step closer to her. "No, it doesn't. It's just where we sleep, and the people we go to classes with."  
  
Ginny smiled. "Good. I know that I'm in Gryffindor…"  
  
"And I'm in Slytherin…"  
  
  
"but, that doesn't mean…"  
  
"that we can't…"  
  
"be…"  
  
"together," Draco finished.  
  
"Good," Ginny said, stepping closer to him. "I'm glad we have that settled."  
  
"Me too," he said, closing the distance between them. He slipped his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his neck. "Do you think this is too fast?" he whispered.  
  
"Oh, no," Ginny whispered. They were so close together their noses touched. "This is fine."  
  
"Good," he mumbled. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, Dean, that is like so funny!" Parvati giggled. Maddie rolled her eyes. I need to teach that girl how to flirt, she thought.  
  
"Soccer is the best game; let me tell you why…" Dean said. Maddie stopped listening and turned to Ron, who was lagging behind the group of Dean, Parvati, Lavender, Seamus, Ernie, Justin, Susan Bones, and herself.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked him.  
  
"What's wrong?" he repeated her question. "What's not wrong? My two best friends are in love, and I have no one!"  
  
"Sure you do," Maddie said. "You could ask out almost any girl and she would say yes."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Because you are so handsome," she joked, ruffling his hair.  
  
"Stop it," he cried. He turned to her. "Will you go out with me?"  
  
"What?" Maddie asked meekly, stopping in her tracks.  
  
"Will you go out with me?" he repeated.  
  
"I didn't mean ask me!"  
  
  
"Well, you said almost any girl…"  
  
"I meant except me, Hermione, or your sister." Maddie explained.  
  
"Why not you?" he asked.  
  
"Why me in the first place?" she inquired.  
  
"You're pretty and fun," he said. "Why not?"  
  
"Because…" she started. Think, Maddie, think! What to say! She decided to be honest. "Ron, back where I come from, there's a boy there who I love very much."   
  
"What's his name?" Ron asked.  
  
"Gray."  
  
Ron snorted. "Gray? That's a color, not a name!"  
  
"It's short for Grayson."  
  
Ron looked at her. "You love him? Like are in love with him?"  
  
Maddie gulped. "Yes," she admitted.  
  
"You're lucky. I wish I felt that way about someone," Ron sighed.   
  
"Even when you don't know if the person loves you back?" Maddie asked.  
  
"You don't know if he loves you?"  
  
Maddie sighed. "We've been best friends since before I can remember, but I don't know if he feels the same way I do."  
  
"What if he doesn't?" Ron asked.  
  
"Then it'll hurt very much when I find out. But I'll try to move on. I don't know if I'll succeed, but I'll try."  
  
Ron suddenly hugged Maddie, tightly. "I hope he feels the same way about you."  
  
"So do I," she said, pulling out of his embrace.   
  
"You deserve it," he whispered.  
  
"You deserve love too, and you'll find it," she said.  
  
"Thanks…" he began, but stopped dead in his tracks with what he saw ahead of them.  
  
"GINNY WEASLEY!" Ron hollered.  
  
Ginny pulled away from Draco, her arms still around his neck. "Yes?" she answered innocently.  
  
"What are you DOING!" he screamed.  
  
"What does it look like?" Ginny asked in a sweet, smart ass voice. Harry and Hermione came around the corner, their mouths open in surprise at the scene.  
  
"You get your hands off of her," Ron hissed, talking to Draco.  
  
Draco clutched Ginny closer to him. "Why don't you get a life, Weasley?"   
  
"Let her GO!" Ron yelled and lunged at him. Ginny jumped out of the way as Ron jumped on top of Draco, knocking him to the floor.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione yelled, and she and Maddie pulled him off of Draco. "What are you doing?" she cried.  
  
"I'll tell you what he's doing!" Ginny screamed. "He's trying to ruin my life!" She looked at Ron. "I hate you! I hate you!" She kicked dirt in his direction. "Never speak to me again! I hate you!" With that Ginny stormed off, taking Draco with her.  
  
Everyone stared at Ron, who was by this time sitting down on the floor in the middle of the sidewalk with everyone staring. Maddie thought she saw him trembling.  
  
"Ron?" she said softly.  
  
He glanced up at her and she saw the tears steaming down his cheeks. He started to sob harder into his hands. Not knowing what to do, Maddie fell to her knees and gave Ron a hug, letting him cry on her shoulder.  
  
"I'm so awful," Ron sobbed.  
  
"No, you're not," she whispered. She got up and let Hermione hold him for a while. Poor Ron. You're almost another father to me, she thought. She went to his home so many times when she ran away that she knew him as well as she knew where own parents. And then for the first time in almost a week, she remembered why she was here. To save Ron. To save Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Draco, and in the process, save Gwyneth; Jamie; Gray Malfoy; William, Isabel, Chloe, and Adam Weasley; Gray's older sister Stacey; and herself, Madeleine Rose Potter.   
  
***  
  
"Back in your old partners and finish the potion today," Snape barked. Maddie yawned. She hated Mondays with a passion. "Five points from Gryffindor for McNestrelles' incompetence." Maddie glared at Snape. I'm not scared of you, you old fool. Then she smiled at him and he quickly looked away. Reverse psychology, she laughed. It always works.  
  
"Maddie," Draco said.   
  
"Yeah?" Maddie asked.   
  
"I kissed her," Draco grinned.  
  
"I was there; I saw."  
  
"Do you think Ron hates me?" Draco asked cautiously.  
  
"I think he hates himself more at this point than you," Maddie said.  
  
"Thank you," Draco said.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Thank you for everything you've done for me. I don't deserve it."  
  
Maddie smiled at him. "Sure you do."  
  
He shook his head. "You're the nicest person I know, Maddie. You… you're my best friend."  
  
"We've known each other for about, two months?" Maddie said.  
  
"But you've changed me. I like myself better, I like everything better. I can't tell how depressed I was before you came," Draco admitted.  
  
"How depressed?"  
  
"I was considering killing myself."  
  
Maddie looked at him. "You're joking."  
  
"Would I joke?"  
  
Maddie smiled. "You should actually thank Snape. If he hadn't put us together as partners you would have grown to hate me too."  
  
"Yeah, just, that's pretty much it. Just thank you. I owe you so much, Maddie."  
  
Maddie threw her arms around him. She laid her head on his shoulder and he buried his head in her hair. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks. She missed Gray so much. Draco had the same scent the Gray had, like honey mixed with pine needles.   
  
They heard McGonagall on the loudspeaker. "All students report to their common rooms IMMEDIENTLY!" Maddie felt her heart sink. It had come. He was here. It was time for her battle, and she wasn't ready for it. Please god, help me.  
  
Draco pulled back from her embrace and looked at her. The students were filing out of the room, not paying attention to Maddie and Draco.  
  
Maddie didn't know what came over her. One minute she was just looking at Draco, the next she plunged her lips into his. She pulled back, and he looked at her, bewildered.  
  
"What was that for?" he whispered.  
  
"That was for just in case I don't ever get to kiss Gray," Maddie whispered and walked off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, leaving a confused Draco to work out what she said.   
  
A/N: Yea! There's going to be one or two more parts after this, and they'll have more action. I apologize for the fluffy romance and such. Please read and review!   



	6. Part Six

Maddie paced across the Gryffindor common room, nervously. The students crowded around, sitting in the chairs and couches near the fireplace. She looked around and surveyed the scene. Harry and Hermione were sitting in one chair, snuggled together. Ron was sitting on a couch, alone, as Ginny and Rosalie were sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room. Poor Ron. I'm going to solve this right now, she decided.  
  
"Ginny," Maddie said.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
"About what?" Ginny asked.  
  
"About Ron."  
  
Ginny frowned. "What about him?"  
  
"Look at him, he's miserable. He's really sorry," Maddie told her.  
  
"No, he's not. I hate him! I wish I was an only child."  
  
"Do you really?" Maddie asked.  
  
Ginny studied her for a minute. "No, I guess not."  
  
"He cried, after you left. He was crying. He felt so bad about… you know, what happened," Maddie said.  
  
"Sure he did," Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm not kidding. He's miserable."  
  
"I'm not going to apologize! He doesn't deserve it!" Ginny cried.  
  
"Ginny Weasley, you better get your ass over there and talk to him right now. If you don't you're the one who doesn't deserve him," Maddie barked. As soon as she said it, she noticed who she sounded like. Her mother.  
  
Ginny looked at Maddie in amazement at her outburst. "Ok, ok. I'll go and talk to him. But I'm not promising anything." She got off of the couch and walked over to Ron.  
  
"I've never seen you this mad," Rosalie noted.  
  
Maddie sighed. "I just think it's really stupid to hold a grudge like that. I mean, we're in a crisis now. McGonagall hasn't told us what's happened, but I'm sure you have some guesses?"  
  
Rosalie bit her lip. "You-know-who is here?"  
  
Maddie nodded. "I think so too. In a time of life or death, there should not be any fights. What if someone died, and the last words we spoke to them were 'I hate you'? That's horrible." Maddie shut her eyes and remembered the last words she had said to Gwyneth.  
  
"You bitch!" Maddie screamed. "All you do is wave your perfect grades in my face, your Quidditch team victories, and when I have a moment in the spotlight you have to take it away from me! For the first time in my life I won something, even if it was the Herbology fair!"   
  
"It's just the stupid Herbology fair," Gwyneth said. "When I was still at Hogwarts I won that all the time."  
  
"Well, it was my first. Then you have to come in and brag about your stupid JOB PROMOTION!" Maddie glared at her. "Why do you have to be so goddamn perfect!"  
  
Gwyneth's face softened. "It's not my fault I'm like this. Believe me, being perfect all the time is not all it's cracked up to be."  
  
"Oh, yeah, really?" Maddie hissed. "What's so bad about it?"  
  
"The PRESSURE! I have to be perfect. I feel like I don't do anything for me, it's just for everyone else! If I'm not perfect, I think mum and dad would have a heart attack!"  
  
"Give me a break!" Maddie yelled. "That's the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard! You want to know about problems? Look at me! I've certainly got enough!"  
  
"Maddie, I…" Gwyneth began.  
  
"And another thing, I hate you! I HATE YOU! You are so perfect and proper and I'm just so damn sick of it! Go to hell, Gwyneth Lillian Potter! Go to hell!" Maddie screamed at the top of her lungs. She stomped off to her room and slammed the door as hard as she could.  
  
Maddie felt a tear roll down her cheek. Why hadn't she listened to Gwyneth? Why had she said all those horrible things to her sister when she hadn't met them. She did love Gwyneth. Maddie had not realized it until that moment, but she did love her. I'm such a horrible person, Maddie thought. If I ever get back, I'll say I'm sorry. I'll say I'm sorry for not listening, for being mean, and for not understanding her problems.   
  
Maddie now better understood Gwyneth. When Maddie had been run away and rebelled, Gwyneth had been put under pressure to be the 'good' sister. To have perfect grades, to be respectful. Maddie remembered that towards the end of her fourth year and Gwyneth's seventh year, that Gwyneth had was sick a lot. It was because of all the pressure on her, to graduate with all NEWTS, to be on top of her class. And because of me.  
  
Maddie looked around. She saw Hermione asleep in her chair, alone. Damnit, where was Harry? She looked around, but didn't see him. He's gone out there, she realized. He has his invisibility cloak and was going outside to face Voldemort on his own. Over my dead body, Maddie thought. She raced up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and pulled on her own invisibility cloak.  
  
Maddie raced down the stairs back into the common room. She took one last look around, at her seventeen year old mother asleep in her chair, Ginny and Ron hugging and apologizing on the couch, and Parvati and Lavender crying on each other's shoulders. Maddie had lived in this past world for almost two months and felt almost as comfortable here as she did in her own time. It'll soon be time to return, she thought as she climbed out of the portrait hall and looked for some sign of Harry or Voldemort.  
  
***  
  
Hermione stirred awake and noticed Harry's absence beside her. "Harry?" she mumbled, to no answer. She staggered out of the chair, and looked around. No Harry. She ran up to the boy's dormitory, where her suspicions were confirmed: Harry's invisibility cloak was gone. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. She found a note on his trunk, addressed to her and Ron.  
  
Dear Hermione and Ron,  
Please don't think I'm a coward. I just could not stay here and allow anything to happen to you two. You are my best friends in the world, and the only people who have ever loved me. I am sorry I had to hurt you. Please don't hate me. Ron- I know we've always done our adventures together, but now things have changed. Please don't come after me. Hermione- I love you. I always have and always will. I'll watch after you both.  
Love,  
Harry   
  
"Shit," she swore again. She raced down the stairs to Ron.  
  
"What is it?" Ron asked after seeing her face. She wordlessly handed him the letter. Ron read it silently, his face paling as he read more. "Damn," he muttered. He looked up at Hermione. "What do you want to do?"  
  
"Go after him. What else can we do?" Hermione asked, her voice cracking. Harry had said he loved her, so why was he doing this to her?  
  
"He doesn't want you to do that," Ginny said softly.  
  
"What does he know," Ron snapped.  
  
"Well, it's his last wish. Maybe you should respect it," Ginny whispered.  
  
"Hell no. Ron, let's go," Hermione said and turned toward the portrait hole, Ron behind her.  
  
"Then I want to go too," Ginny said stubbornly.  
  
"NO!" Hermione and Ron said simultaneously.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You'll get yourself killed!" Hermione cried.  
  
"So will you," Ginny pointed out.  
  
"Ginny, you're only sixteen," Ron argued.  
  
"A year younger than you," she insisted.  
  
"Ginny, there is no way in hell you are going. SIT DOWN!" Ron yelled. Ginny made no move to back off and stood her ground. Ron stared at her for a minute, then sighed. "Ginny, if you get yourself killed, I don't know what I'll do. Please don't."  
  
"How do you think Harry feels that you two are getting involved? Probably the same way!" Ginny cried.  
  
"Harry is being stupid. He thinks that he can do this by himself, which he can't," Hermione sighed.  
  
"Then why can't I come? Four heads are better than three!" Ginny argued.  
  
Hermione and Ron exchanged a look. "Ginny, if you come, you're going to leave at the first sign of danger. Is that understood?" Ron asked. Ginny nodded. The three walked over to the portrait hole and climbed out on their search for Harry.  
  
***  
  
"Potter, go back to your common room!" Snape barked.  
  
"No!" Harry cried. He was standing in the middle of Dumbledore's study, along with all of the other teachers. Maddie was in the corner, watching the scene with interest, hidden by her invisibility cloak.  
  
"Potter, you heard me. GO!" Snape yelled.  
  
"No! I will not go back and endanger the lives of everyone I love. I won't!" Harry screamed. Maddie had to suppress a giggle; he looked like a little child having a temper tantrum.   
  
"POTTER! GO!" Snape yelled. "I will not have you getting killed!"  
  
"Why not!" Harry yelled back. "Why do you care?"  
  
"Because I owe it to your parents!" Harry looked at Snape quizzically as Snape sighed and put his face in his hands. "Minnie, tell him to go back," he whined.  
  
"Harry, we know this is hard…"  
  
"You know, you really don't."  
  
"But you can't do anything stupid. Think before you act!" McGonagall cried.  
  
"He's going to kill me anyway. I might as well get it over now," Harry stated, looking his professor in the eye. Maddie sighed. Was he brave, or just stupid? She decided on brave. She had always thought that her father was brave, and now was no time to change her views.  
  
"Harry…" Dumbledore started. There was a loud noise coming from outside, near the Quidditch field. It sounded like thunder, but it was concentrated.   
  
"Oh, god," McGonagall mumbled. "Harry!" She called after the boy, but he was already on his way to the Quidditch field. Their teachers ran after him, followed by Maddie.  
  
***  
  
"What was that!" Ginny cried. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, both extremely frightened.  
  
"Is it him?" Hermione asked.  
  
Ron bit his lip. "I don't know. I think it is."  
  
"It came from the Quidditch field," Ginny said.  
  
"Let's go." Hermione started walking, but Ron grabbed her arm.  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked meekly.  
  
Hermione nodded. "I love him, and I'm not about to let him die." She placed her hand on Ron's shoulders. "Are you sure?"  
  
Ron looked at her for a minute, then nodded. "You two are my best friends. I can't just…" he trailed off. He turned to Ginny. "Go back."  
  
"No way!"  
  
"You said when it got dangerous you'd go back. It's dangerous. Go back!" Ron snapped.  
  
"Ron!" Ginny cried. "You're my brother, my favorite brother. I'm going to stick with you, whether you like it or not!"  
  
Ron sighed and gave in. "Let's go." The trio then raced toward the Quidditch field.  
  
***  
  
"Where are you Riddle!" Harry screamed at the sky. The sky had dark, ominous looking clouds covering the sun, making the afternoon look like night. "I'm ready for you!"  
  
"Harry, don't do that!" McGonagall cried.  
  
"Harry, be rational," Dumbledore said. "Do you think he's still here?"  
  
At that moment a cold breeze went by, along with another loud thunder crash. They heard a small, taunting voice coming from no direction. 'I am everywhere'.   
  
"Come and face me like a man!" Harry roared. "If it's a fight you want, come and fight!"   
  
'But I'm not interested in a fight. All I want is death' the voice came again.  
  
"You COWARD!" Harry screamed. "You horrid COWARD!"  
  
Another clap of thunder followed, this one almost deafening. Ginny screamed as she, Ron, and Hermione approached the field. Harry turned to them, hysterical with anger.  
  
"He's gone nuts," Ron muttered to Hermione. She just looked ahead at Harry.  
  
"I thought I told you not to come!" He yelled.  
  
"Did you really think we'd listen?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Goddamn it! Go back now! Where you'll be safe! This isn't your battle!" Harry screamed.  
  
"NO!" Hermione screamed.   
  
"We're sticking with you until the end," Ron said.  
  
"This is the end! GO!" Harry cried, his voice cracking. "Go, please!"  
  
"No," Hermione said calmly, standing her ground. Harry stared at her; his eyes burning into her own.  
  
"Please?" Harry pleaded.  
  
"NO," Hermione, Ron, and Ginny said at the same time.  
  
"We're with you now and forever," Hermione said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We love you." She paused before continuing. "I love you."  
  
Harry cracked a smile. "I love you too." He hugged her tightly, clutching her until he couldn't hold her any closer. He looked over at Ron and Ginny over Hermione's shoulder. They were both smiling at them.  
  
"Malfoy!" Snape exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Everyone turned around to see Draco Malfoy walking onto the Quidditch field. "Draco!" Ginny cried with glee. She started to run to him, but he held up his hand to stop her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Snape repeated.  
  
"He's here to see me, Severus," a voice said from the corner of the field. Lucius Malfoy calmly strutted towards Draco. "I see you got my note?" he asked Draco.  
  
"Yes, father," Draco muttered.  
  
"Good. Very good." Lucius turned to Harry. "Potter, how are you?"  
  
"What do you want?" Harry said calmly, pushing Hermione aside roughly. Ron caught her before she fell.  
  
"What manners have your parents been teaching you?" Lucius laughed. "Oh, I forgot. You don't have parents, the little orphan hero of the wizarding world. The boy who lived." Lucius narrowed his eyes at Harry. "My friend Tom has a few words to say to you."  
  
Tom? Oh, Tom Riddle. Voldemort. Maddie felt a shudder as she stood there, watching, fully concealed under the cloak. The sky turned darker and the breeze got harsher, colder.  
  
"Bring him on," Harry said. "I'm ready."  
  
Lucius laughed again. "Are you really?" He sighed. "Harry, you're beaten in the odds. There's me, Tom, his disciples, and my son." He put his hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco cringed and looked at the grass. "And who do you have, a few seventeen year old friends and some old teachers. You're outnumbered, Potter."  
  
"It's just me you want. I want one on one with him."  
  
"Harry!" Hermione hissed. "Don't!" He waved her comment away.  
  
Lucius shook his head. "Why don't you listen to your little girlfriend?"  
  
"Keep her out of this," Harry snapped.  
  
"Draco," Ginny moaned.  
  
He looked up at them, his eyes watering with tears. "I'm sorry." Oh Draco, Maddie thought. Poor Draco. I'm the one who's sorry.  
  
A loud thunder clap came from the sky. The wind started blowing so hard it started taking off shingles from the roof. A large lightning bolt struck the castle, and it caught on a purple flame.  
  
Hermione gasped. "That's ollehevaw fire. It can only be created by dark magic and stopped by dark magic. It's intangible to other wizards." She cringed. "Everyone will have to get out."  
  
The doors from the castle suddenly flew open, and students ran from their burning school. Lucius had a smile on his face. This is what he wanted, Maddie realized. He wants to take as many lives as possible.  
  
Once many students were out of the building, Lucius snapped his fingers and the fire ceased. No smoke, no nothing.   
  
Dumbledore spoke for the first time. "Lucius, what do you want?"  
  
"I want my master to have what he wants." Lucius turned to Harry. "My master wants Harry Potter."  
  
Another breeze came, and a figure of a man appeared. He had thinning dark hair, and black, cold eyes. He turned to Harry. "Potter, do you see what I have become?" Harry said nothing. "I have my powers back, mostly. But it is because of you that I don't have it all. You are the reason for my downfall once, but you will not make me fall again."  
  
"Voldemort," Harry hissed.  
  
He laughed. Harry cringed. It was the same laugh he heard in his nightmares, the same laugh he heard when a dememtor came near him. "Potter."  
  
Voldemort waved his hand and threw a fireball at a group of first years huddled together. They dodged it at the last minute. "Leave them alone!" Harry screamed. "It's me you want, isn't it?"  
  
Voldemort grinned evilly. "I want to have a little fun first." He threw a fireball at a group of sixth years, this time hitting one of them. A very pretty brunette girl.  
  
"Rosalie!" Ginny screamed and ran to her friend's side. "Oh, Rosalie," she sobbed. Ginny felt for a pulse but felt none. "She's dead."  
  
Draco felt nauseous. Poor Rosalie, she was such a sweet girl. He then realized that Voldemort was aiming another one at Ginny.  
  
"NO!" He screamed, and ran toward Ginny, covering her.  
  
"Draco! What are you doing?" Lucius yelled.  
  
"Something I should have done a long time ago. Go to hell, father."  
  
"Draco…" Lucius looked confused, if hurt.  
  
"You heard me. Go to hell." Draco turned to Voldemort. "You too! You deserve it!" Voldemort angrily threw a fireball at them, and Draco dragged Ginny away from Rosalie's body.   
  
"Take this!" Voldemort started throwing fireballs around at everyone; it became a mad dash to avoid them. Harry grabbed Hermione and Ron and ran towards the bleachers.  
  
"Stay here," he told them.  
  
"Harry…" Hermione began.  
  
"If you stay here, you'll get hit and killed."  
  
Ron nodded. "Hermione, he's right. Stay down."  
  
Hermione felt tears roll down her cheeks. "Be careful."  
  
"I will," Harry whispered.  
  
Hermione wiped her tears. "I hate playing the damsel in distress role. Just waiting for my knight in shining armor to save me," she said sarcastically.  
  
"Hey, look at me," Harry took her face in his hands. "I love you."  
  
Hermione just looked at him, then leaned in and kissed him. It was a funny site, Maddie thought, two lovers kissing amidst the destructive battle scene. It was like something out of a movie, but it was real. It was the very incarnation of the love and hate in the world, both showing at the same time.  
  
"Be careful," Hermione repeated after their kiss had been broken. Harry smiled and nodded, then ran off towards Voldemort.  
  
***  
  
Maddie surveyed the damage at hand. She saw at least four, five, six, bodies on the ground, most likely all dead. Fire was everywhere, and where there was no fire, the ground was covered in blood. It's now or never, she said to herself. I have to do it now or die trying. She shrugged off the invisibility cloak and walked toward Voldemort.  
  
***  
  
"Stop Riddle!" Harry screamed. "It's me you want, and here I am! Stop playing with them. Kill me!"  
  
Voldemort turned to Harry. "Do you think you'd last a second against me, boy?" He took a step closer. "Do you? Do you know what I could do to you?"  
  
Harry was brave; he stood his ground and looked Voldemort in the eye. "I do know, and I dare you to."  
  
Maddie crept forward. She now found her father stupid.  
  
Voldemort laughed. "Very well, boy." He threw a fireball at Harry.   
  
"No!" Maddie yelled. She ran forward and caught the fireball in her hand, as one would catch a baseball. The entire battlefield was now silent. Maddie heard many "how did she do that?" and "that's not possible" remarks. Maddie threw the ball up in the air and caught it again. "I believe this is yours, Riddle?"   
  
"I've been waiting to meet you, Madeleine." Voldemort said.   
  
Maddie shook her eyes. "The reason you're attacking now is so we wouldn't have to meet, because you know what I'm capable of. I guess I thought this meeting was unavoidable."  
  
"How did you get here?" he asked mockingly.  
  
Maddie glared at him. "Good has certain advantages over evil." She smiled.  
  
"Evil? I'm not evil. Nor am I good. There is no evil or good, merely power. I believe you know what I mean."  
  
"How would I?" Maddie asked.  
  
"Your parents never loved you, did they?" he said.  
  
"Of course they did!"  
  
Voldemort looked at her. "Poor, poor girl. They loved your sister, but never you."  
  
Maddie rolled her eyes. "Fat chance of brainwashing me. I'm not that gullible."  
  
"Name one person who loves you."  
  
Maddie bit her lip. "Gray."  
  
Voldemort laughed his ear splitting, evil laugh. "Gray? Gray never loved you."  
  
That hurt. What if Gray never did love her? Not even as a friend? She shook the idea out of her head. "Why am I wasting my time with a seventy year old dark wizard wannabe coward?" she grinned. "A rule for next time, pick on people your own size. Or power." She pulled out her wand.  
  
"Don't," Voldemort pleaded.  
  
"Actually, there won't be a next time, because you're going down," Maddie hissed. She pointed her wand at him. "Kegivuliyll mortitrocious!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. A blinding white light came out of her wand and made her entire body glow. She was lifted about a foot above the ground, her hair flying everywhere in the wind. "Kegivuliyll mortitrocious, kegivuliyll mortitrocious," she mumbled over and over again.   
  
Voldemort fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. She was lowered down to the ground, still glowing. Then his body exploded, scattering dust everywhere and creating a shock wave so intense that everyone in the nearest thousand meters fell over, and those in the nearest five hundred meters were knocked out of consciousness, meaning everyone on the Quidditch field except Maddie.   
  
She looked around and surveyed the damage. Among the dead was Lavender Brown and Neville Longbottom. There were two third years, a fifth year, three fourth years, and five first years, all who couldn't defend themselves. And their was Rosalie, his first victim. Poor Rosalie. Poor Lavender. Lavender Brown had been a bit snobby but she had been Maddie's friend, and Maddie felt the grief. She turned to the teachers. "Oh no," she gasped. It was Dumbledore. "Professor," she whispered, kneeling over him.  
  
He smiled at her. "You did a brave thing today, Madeleine Potter."  
  
She smiled. "Thank you." She paused. "Why could I…"  
  
"Why could you kill him? Stop the fireball?" Maddie nodded. Dumbedore continued. "You're an anjelique."  
  
"A what?"   
  
"An anjelique. It is a person with such good inside of them that no dark magic can defeat. Your grandmother Lily was one too, but she gave her powers up for her son. They are very rare."  
  
"Is my father one?"  
  
"Harry has a bit of anjelique in him, but no, he is not a full one." Dumbledore looked up at her. "Do you know why you were chosen for this mission?"  
  
Maddie shook her head. "I really don't. Gwyneth would have been so much better suited…"  
  
"Gwyneth is not an anjelique."  
  
Maddie looked at him in surprise. "She's not?"  
  
The old man shook his head. "No, she's not. Even with all her intelligence and sheer power, she would have not been able to defeat him."  
  
Maddie pressed her lips together. She was something her sister was not? "I thought perfect Gwen…"  
  
"She is not as perfect as she seems. Give her a chance in the future," he smiled sadly. "Watch over your parents for me."  
  
"Oh, professor," Maddie said as she sat next to a dying Dumbledore.  
  
"Worry not," he smiled at her. "To the well prepared mind, death is merely the next adventure."   
  
Maddie sighed. "Take care."  
  
"You too," he said as he shut his eyes and slipped from life.  
  
Maddie stood there for a while, watching him. Then she felt raindrops on her head. The dark clouds vanished, and in their place, light, crystalline clouds appeared. The rain fell harder, putting out the fires and arousing the knocked out students and teachers. Maddie felt down her robes and grabbed her time turner. It's time to go home, she told herself. She turned her time turner once, twice, three times…  
  
***  
  
Harry felt his eyes open. He was laying on the grass in the Quidditch field, with the rain falling down upon him. The memories came rushing back to him of what happened. Maddie, he thought. He sat up and looked around, but saw no sign of her. He felt a pain in his heart. She had died for him. He and the rest of the wizarding world owed her their lives. He turned around, and saw her standing there.   
  
"Maddie!" He cried.  
  
She turned to him. She had a time turner and was holding it. "Harry," she whispered.  
  
"You…" he began.  
  
"Forget it," she said.  
  
"Why!"  
  
"I don't want to be a hero. You already are one. You killed him, you saved us all."  
  
Harry shook his head, confused. "But you,"  
  
"I did save your life, didn't I?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Then tell no one about this. I don't care what you tell them, that you killed him, that Dumbledore killed him, just don't say anything about me."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You'll understand later. Not now. Please," she begged. Harry nodded.  
  
"See ya'" she smiled and turned her time turner, then was gone.   
  
  
  
A/N: I'm done! Yeah! This part was pretty lame, I'm not good at writing action scenes. Please read and review!  
  



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